Voices from the Rebellion

Fifty years ago, for five days in July 1967, the African American and Latino community in Newark rebelled against racist policies and everyday oppression. Rooted in years of institutional racism, many people of color moved to Newark as part of the Great Migration, seeking jobs and opportunity, but were met with widespread discrimination in housing, education, healthcare, and employment. They were also met with police brutality. African Americans had been actively organizing in Newark to gain an equal share in economic, political, and social power structures, but faced the active resistance from City Hall and law enforcement agencies.

Voices from the Rebellion traces the underlying causes, the events immediately before July 12, 1967, that provided the spark, and the immediate aftermath of the violence. The exhibition concludes with an examination of the ongoing effects of the Rebellion on Newark. Video within the exhibit includes first-hand accounts of the Rebellion.

Exhibit on view from June 26 to August 26, 2017
1st Floor Gallery, Main Library, 5 Washington Street

Curated by Librarian Thomas Ankner and scholar Peter Blackmer

The exhibit is a joint project of the Newark Public Library and the Center for Education and Juvenile Justice, the sponsor of The North: Civil Rights and Beyond in Urban America, a digital archive of stories of resistance in urban centers. The first digital archive created for the project was that of Newark, under the direction of Junius Williams, lawyer, author, activist, and community leader. For more information, visit riseupnewark.com. Newark History Society is a cosponsor of the exhibit.